Twitter Chat: States Face Deadline On Health Insurance Exchanges

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie listens to a question in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday. He has refused to tip his hand on whether New Jersey will set up a federally mandated health insurance exchange or let the federal government handle the chores.

Mel Evans
/ AP

Originally published on November 15, 2012 8:24 pm

Update 8:20 p.m: Late Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius extended the deadline until Dec. 14 for states to decide whether to run an exchange on their own.

Come Friday, states will have to decide whether they will run their own insurance exchanges under President Obama's sweeping health law.

These exchanges will be where people and small businesses go to shop for insurance.

The policies offered will have to meet minimum standards. And there will be subsidies on a sliding scale for people who need them. Those will be available for people earning up to four times the federal poverty level, or about is about $40,000 to $45,000 for a single person.

At noon Thursday, we'll convene a Twitter chat about the exchanges: why they matter and how they could transform the health insurance marketplace.